Mayindo tips national Under-18 Youth handball side to get better

Richard Mayindo, the national handball Under-18 left-back who can also serve as a centre back when called upon, has tipped the current squad to propel Kenya to greater heights in the sport if supported fully. 

The Mbooni Boys High School student was one of the star players for the side at the just-concluded Africa Zone Five IHF Youth Trophy hosted in Nairobi where Kenya finished third in the age group. 

Kenya bag bronze in IHF youth trophy championship

In the third-place playoff against a resilient Ethiopia, Mayindo scored 13 to propel the Gerald Juma-coached side the podium finish, having missed out on the final and a chance to defend the title Kenya won in 2018. 

"We have a good squad. This being our first international championship for the squad and for most of us we have picked valuable lessons and also gauged ourselves against our peers after a short training period. If we had managed to train together longer, I believe we would have had a better performance than a third-place finish," offered Mayindo. 

Kenya won all their group stage matches against Djibouti, South Sudan and Ethiopia to qualify for the semis as the first team in pool B. 

Juma's charges played Rwanda in the semis going down 38-29 in a match that was closely fought hntil the last ten minutes. 

"Against Rwanda, it was a new indoor facility for us and that, for starters was challenging. They also beat us with speed which is something we will need to work on for any other assignments. Additionally, it would serve us better if we trained as a team from here on as that would make winning that much easier," he added. 

Mayindo says the team is strong defensively but they were put to the test and some flaws were exposed. He, however, remains hopeful that those are issues that can be dealt with as the team gels. 

Rwanda beat Burundi 40-37 in the youth championship to bag the zone's only ticket to the continental championship set for December in Guinea.